5. Nico
NICO
After throwing the folder with my sketches onto the counter by the cash register, I made my way back to the farm in a daze.
I replayed the memories of the night Cam and I hooked up over in my mind, as I’d done for years, trying to figure out what could have gone wrong.
The chemistry between us today was just as electric as it was back then.
I remember how we flirted on the back porch, how he teased me when we got up to his bedroom, how I worshipped him like he was the best thing I’d tasted.
I waited for him afterward, thinking we’d talk about how we’d manage the long-distance thing, but he never showed.
He vanished from the party and didn’t even say goodbye.
As far as I was concerned, the fact that he was still mad meant he still cared. I was going to figure this out, and I was going to fix it, especially after he’d let slip that he still thought about that night, too.
My crush had flared to life again, full force.
I parked the truck Mark had let me borrow in the gravel driveway leading up to the Frost family farmhouse and glanced to make sure no one was around before removing my underwear and shoving them into my pocket. No way I was doing the walk of shame in a crusty jockstrap.
Their old cattle dog, Bowie, circled my feet as I dragged myself up the front steps. She had to be over ten, long retired from any farm duties. Now she spent her days lounging in a sun spot by the front door.
“You’re the best girl, aren’t you?” I knelt to bury my fingers in her fur. “Look at your perfect little ghost face.”
Mark had renovated much of the inside of the house since his parents had retired to their RV, but the facade was exactly like I remembered: white clapboard with green trim and a wrap-around porch.
The porch swing where Mark and I drank our first beers and talked about girls late into the night still hung by the front door.
If I followed the porch around to the back, I knew the spot where I’d kissed Cameron ten years ago would still be there, too. Everything felt so familiar, it hurt.
Cameron had always been our shadow, the way little brothers were, until that summer.
I was about to start my senior year at Emerson, and Cameron was a junior at Vermont State.
Things between us that summer were different.
Not just because Mark had abandoned us for his apprenticeship at a neighboring dairy farm, but because I’d finally started experimenting with guys.
I noticed Cameron that summer in a way I never had before.
Maybe it was weird to still think about a guy I hooked up with one time a decade ago, but it wasn’t just anyone. It was Cameron Frost.
The real reason I had made myself scarce around Sleighbell Springs was living above the garage now, apparently. Since Cameron had never told Mark about that night, I never did either. It was for the best that he didn’t know his best friend and his brother had fucked.
But ever since, Cameron had become a ghost. He never said goodbye when I left for Boston, and every holiday I came home after that, he was always busy doing something else.
As I walked up the front steps, my phone buzzed with two texts.
Gus
[Video of gallery space] Please approve layout ASAP.
Cameron
If you want to talk about the mural tomorrow, I’ll be at Frosty’s at eight.
I shot off a quick reply to Cam, letting him know I’d be there, and saved Gus’s text for later.
I’d usually never leave a gallery owner on read, especially so close to a show opening, but I’d fucking had it with him today.
I wasn’t sure how much power Gus would wield to keep me from the connections I needed to maintain the art career I’d built back in Boston.
He was still hosting my show, for now, but who knew if he’d end up screwing me over in the end.
I guess it all depended on how much money my paintings would earn him in commissions.
Mark was in the kitchen when I came in the front door, microwaving a baked potato and leftover steak. He rushed to the door and pulled me into a hug. I let the guilt wash over me—issues with his brother aside, it had been too long since I’d seen my best friend.
“I’m so happy you’re here, man,” Mark said, with a friendly slap to my back.
I rolled my eyes at the jock behavior he’d never quite grown out of. “Thanks for letting me crash on short notice.”
“Are you kidding? This is the best,” Mark said as he pulled his plate from the microwave. “It’ll be just like old times, except now I’m working eighty-hour weeks.”
“Eh.” I chuckled awkwardly. “I’m not sure Cameron is as thrilled.”
“It’s been long enough.” He leveled me with a stern look. “I’m tired of my best friend and my brother dancing circles around each other. Y’all need to figure it out.”
I slumped into one of the barstools. “Gonna lock us in a closet together or what?”
“If that’s what it takes.” Mark glanced at the door before lowering his voice to a whisper. “I’m proposing to Josie soon. I’m waiting for the ring to be delivered. I want you both in the wedding, and I’m not going to spend it babysitting either of you.”
I blinked at him. “I know we’d talked about rings, but I didn’t realize you’d picked one out.”
“Yeah, Josie’s incredible. I can’t wait to marry her.”
“Pretty confident she’ll say yes, huh?” I couldn’t help teasing.
Josie had moved to town five or six years ago from New York and set up a small veterinary practice. One day, she came to the farm to look after a cow who’d hurt her leg, and Mark and Josie had been in each other’s pockets ever since; there was no doubt she would say yes.
“Yeah, I think I can be confident about this.” Mark winked.
“Congratulations.” I gave him a wide smile. “I’ll do what I can with Cameron, but I don’t even know why he’s upset.”
“I’m not sure it matters. You’re both different people now,” Mark said with a shrug. “Cameron can hold a grudge, though.”
I let out a deep breath. I came here to get away from the drama, and now Mark had assigned me to a peacekeeping mission.
But I owed it to my best friend to patch things up with his brother.
Mark was right, we were adults now. Cameron and I needed to get over our shit—and if it happened by getting under each other, all the better.
“Anyway, he’s probably just embarrassed. He had such a big crush on you when we were growing up.”
My head snapped up. “He had a crush on me?”
“Shit, you can’t tell me you didn’t know,” Mark said between bites of baked potato. “He’d been following you around like a puppy since we were sixteen.”
It was true that we’d spent a lot of time together, especially that last year. Mark was doing his summer internship on a farm in a different town, so he hadn’t been around much. Cameron had filled the space so naturally. The flirtatious energy between us culminated in the best hookup I’d ever had.
And then, radio silence.
“I could have sworn you were into him, too, back then,” Mark said. “But once you told me how excited you were to get back to your fancy life in Boston, I wasn’t going to meddle.”
My eyes widened comically. Shit. I had downplayed things with Cameron to Mark that night, hadn’t I? Had Cam overheard?
Mark continued as if he hadn’t just made me feel like an asshole. “Whatever’s going on, it’s time for you to bury the hatchet. I miss having my brother and my best friend in the same room.”
He put his dishes in the sink and slapped my shoulder. My mouth hung open as I tried to process everything Mark had revealed.
We turned as Josie walked in the front door. She was still dressed from her workday, in a camel-colored sweater and, as far as I could tell, her nice jeans—she may be a vet, but she still lived in a small town with lots of farm visits. Her short black hair was styled with a slight wave.
As she tried to head my way, Mark scooped her up in his arms. “Me first.”
“You’re going to get my work clothes all dirty.”
“Don’t care.” Mark just squeezed her tighter. “You’re home early.”
“Got a few cows to check on in the barn before dinner.” Josie grinned, pecking his lips and wriggling free. “Nico! It’s so wonderful to see you.”
“It’s been too long,” I said, rising from my seat to return her enthusiastic hug.
“My two favorite people in one room.” Mark wrapped his arms around both of us and lifted us off the ground.
Josie laughed. “Poor Cameron.”
My face flushed at the mention of Mark’s brother. Josie’s eyes were bright and assessing as she scanned my face, and I blushed even brighter when she winked at me. Thankfully, Mark was too busy pouring Josie a glass of wine to notice.
“Would you like one, Nico?” Mark said.
I sighed. It had been a long day. “Pour me two.”